Food News

Last week I tried an experiment based on something I saw my friend Jeffery Self do a few days prior: I hosted a LIVE video Q&A on a site called ustream.tv. I called the show "Dinner Dish," announced it 5 minutes before I did it on Twitter, and about 14 people came (including my mom) and asked me questions about food and cooking in the chat room. I promised the next time I did it I'd give more warning so here it is: this afternoon, at 5 PM EST, click here and ask me anything you want to know about cooking, eating, dining, spelunking, you name it. Today's episode will be a special snowstorm edition.... Adam Roberts http://www.amateurgourmet.com/

Craig's birthday has always been an excellent excuse to splurge at a high-end restaurant, the kind of place I couldn't justify going to the rest of the year. Usually I pick a place that piques my curiosity, or a place I've been dying to try for a long time. Last year we visited Momofuku Ko, the year before--and it was quite a year--Per Se and, the year before that, Blue Hill. This year, it finally occurred to me: all this time, I'd been choosing places I really wanted to go to without really factoring Craig into the equation. Sure, he loves food and loved all these meals, but would he have picked these places himself? Probably not (reading over my shoulder, he says: "I would've picked Blue Hill.") Regardless, there's one kind of food that Craig absolutely loves and that I just enjoy which, if this birthday was going to be about him, I would have to pursue: that food is sushi.... Adam Roberts http://www.amateurgourmet.com/

My proudest culinary achievements aren't the ones where I followed a recipe really well or repeated a specific technique demonstrated by a chef, they're the ones where on a freezing cold night, instead of ordering a pizza or Thai food (side-note: we still haven't found good take-out in the West Village; anyone?) I whip up something delicious with what I have on hand.... Adam Roberts http://www.amateurgourmet.com/

I care about you, readers, and I don't want you to go through this weekend without cookies. Everyone deserves cookies, especially on the weekend. The cookies I'm going to tell you about may already be familiar to you. The first, Lucy's Salty Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies, were cookies I told you about in December. Remember I went to a cookie party? And how I was assigned Pfeffernussen? And how my Pfeffernussen were a bit tough and unwieldy, but how the best cookies at the party--salty chocolate peanut butter cookies--were so good I tracked down the recipe for you? Well now I've made those cookies myself and they are still mind-bogglingly good.... Adam Roberts http://www.amateurgourmet.com/

Every so often, when our lovely and talented banner illustrator Lindy Groening designs a new monthly banner, she asks me to send her some pictures of myself in various poses to fit into the banner scheme. Imagine my shock when, last week, she asked me to send her NAKED pictures of myself for this month's banner! I was both outraged and tickled; me? Naked? On my banner? Well, there it is folks. I think she did a lovely job; thanks to her and thanks, of course, to Justin for giving this cupid wings. [P.S. Lindy never asked for naked pictures, in case you didn't know I was joking. But Lindy, if you want them, I've got them!]... Adam Roberts http://www.amateurgourmet.com/

It's hard to get excited about meatloaf. That is, unless you're standing in the kitchen at Craft in New York and Chef Damon Wise (Tom Colicchio's right-hand man) is mixing together ground beef, pork, crisp shitakes (that taste like bacon), golden soffrito, soy sauce, fresh oregano and Parmesan cheese. The resulting meatloaf--which Chef Wise called "Umami Meatloaf"--was, without question, the best I've ever had. And then, as you'll see in the following Food2 video, I went and recreated it at home. All the proportions and ingredients and steps are listed in the video, but, just in case, I'll share them after the jump. And now, without further pause, here's one killer meatloaf:... Adam Roberts http://www.amateurgourmet.com/

Maybe I'm crass, but when I think bladder, I think pee. When the bladder comes up in conversation, it's usually in the context of "my bladder is going to explode, please pull over" or "ouch, don't sit on my bladder, I just drank a liter of Coke." It's rarely: "Mmm, you know what would be delicious? Puffing up the bladder of a pig and cooking a chicken in it!" If someone said that to you, you might stare at them, mouth agape, wondering how quickly you might get to the nearest exit. Yet, at some point before I arrived at the NYT 4-star Michelin 3-star restaurant Daniel on the Upper East Side, the visiting chef--another Michelin 3-star chef, Chef Eric Frechon from The Bristol in Paris--made that very statement. And no one recoiled in horror; in fact, they helped him do it.... Adam Roberts http://www.amateurgourmet.com/

Hear those distant drums? A great battle is about to begin: the Great Soup Battle of 2010. As readers may remember, last week I announced a big contest on my blog. Submit your favorite soup recipe--it didn't have to be original, just a soup recipe that you love--and the best one would win a $450 VitaMix blender. Then 325 of you, that's right 325 of you, submitted recipes. And little old me had to wade through them to pick the best. It was hard work, not for the faint of heart, but I wound up choosing the three most intriguing; recipes that, for whatever reason, grabbed my attention and made me hungry to try them. Then I invited my friends Diana Fithian (an enthusiastic home cook) and Leland Scruby (who works at the French Culinary Institute) over to help me make them. The three of us, plus Craig, would sample these soups and carefully choose the winner.... Adam Roberts http://www.amateurgourmet.com/

Brothers and sisters, I have seen the light! All these years, these years of reading Calvin Trillin (the poet laureate of dumplings) and fake nodding as my Manhattanite friends (ones who grew up here) debated dumpling dives, I faked an interest that didn't really exist. You see, I didn't really get the big deal. What's so great about dumplings? Aren't they just glorified ravioli, greasy gut-bombs that you dip in soy sauce and that make you feel gross and un-full and desperate for a salad? This, of course, is sacrilege in the food world but my confession here is a precursor for an absolute conversion that came about because of a little web show called Working Class Foodies.... Adam Roberts http://www.amateurgourmet.com/

White food is supposedly unappetizing. Tom Colicchio, on "Top Chef," will mark down a plate of food if everything on it is white or beige. I see his point: there's something almost clinical about a plate of white food. That's why parsley's such a useful ingredient to have around; it's an easy color-solution, the flecks of green create a vibrancy and sparkle a plain plate of white food just doesn't have. That said, there's always one plate of white food that makes me smile. It makes me smile because it's white food with a secret; a plate of white food that explodes with flavor. And that, faithful readers, is my Heaven & Hell Cauliflower Pasta.... Adam Roberts http://www.amateurgourmet.com/

Recipe from Bon Appétit

What does it say about us that we eat so much fast food and eat food so fast?

On the nation’s greatest food holiday, the culinary habits of millions can be analyzed like never before.

A trend for birds that are said to be more flavorful, but cost more and take longer to raise.

The small-business world is going cupcake-mad, and not just in meccas like Los Angeles and New York.

Sushi Class With Sake.

A number of chefs and restaurateurs have taken on everyday foods, revisiting, revising and approaching them with care.

Soul Food Farm learned the meaning of community-supported agriculture the hard way.

Recipe from Gourmet

India’s leader was the guest of honor at the Obamas’ first state dinner, which they infused with distinctive touches.